


Stupid Heart

by parttimehuman



Series: Theo Raeken Week 2018 [2]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Canon, Friendship, Gen, Sibling Bonding, Tara is obviously alive, grumpy teenager theo, scott and stiles play lacrosse, they love and hate each other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-19
Updated: 2018-11-19
Packaged: 2019-08-26 06:22:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,220
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16676230
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/parttimehuman/pseuds/parttimehuman
Summary: 14-year-old Theo Raeken is a little frustrated when his best/only two friends Scott and Stiles join the lacrosse team and suddenly have a whole new hobby without Theo, who can't play sports due to a heart condition.Maybe it's not the worst thing in the world, though.And maybe that's because he still has Tara.





	Stupid Heart

**Author's Note:**

> **For Day 2 of Theo Raeken Week - Alternate Canon**
> 
> Neither death nor the Dread Doctors ever separated Theo and Tara. The only one who come between them are the siblings themselves. Because that's how siblings do the love thing.

“Morning, Teddy,” Tara sing-songs as she literally comes dancing inside the kitchen. It’s seven o’clock on a Sunday, and to say that the big grin on her face is making Theo suspicious would be a hell of an understatement. 

 

“I told you not to call me that!” He complains, swatting her hand away. Her fingers look like claws these days, and a part of him is genuinely scared that she’ll rip his skull open by accident while ruffling his hair like she always does. And what do her inhuman looking fingernails need to be bright red for anyway? “My name is Theo,” he grumbles, “I’m not a plushie.” 

 

“You are a little,” his older sister says with a shrug, pulling her hand away. “Little softie.” 

 

Theo knows she’s not only talking about his cozy sweater. It’s not his fault that he’s got that little tummy beneath it and that his fourteen-year-old face just won’t get rid of the chubby baby cheeks. It’s his Mom who cooks like a master chef and the fact that his heart condition prevents him from playing any sports. 

 

“I hate you,” Theo tells Tara, watching as she pours herself a coffee into a mug that couldn’t have his name written on it any more clearly or brightly. It’s become a thing recently, for her to drink coffee. Personally, Theo thinks coffee is gross, and if he wanted to come across as an adult he’d rather pay taxes, but that might just be him. “What are you even up for this early?” 

 

He doesn't want to sound interested in her life. To be completely honest, when Theo sees his sister coming out of the bathroom with her face smeared in all of the world’s existing makeup or giggling when she looks into her phone, he’s pretty much convinced he doesn’t want to know anything about her life at all, but he still can’t help the curiosity.

 

Tara shrugs and sets down a plate with two slices of toast on the table. “Gonna go out in a bit. Meet some people.” 

 

Theo stops munching on his cereal and looks at her with raised eyebrows. “Go out? Meet people? Can you be any more vague, maybe?” 

 

“Of course I can, and it’s not like it’s any of your business, little brother.” 

 

“You know, technically,” Theo starts, watching as Tara rolls her eyes because she already knows what he’s going to say next, “technically, I’m not your little brother anymore. I’m taller than you.” It’s pretty much the only thing he has on her, if you’re not counting actual sanity of the mind, so he has no choice but to remind her of the two inches he is now taller than her on a daily basis. His breaking voice doesn’t really sound satisfyingly manly yet, the number of pubic hairs has still not risen above ten, so Theo needs to play the one trump card he holds as often as he can. 

 

“Are you just going to talk, or are you going to finish that cereal?” Tara asks, pointing at the bowl in front of Theo. 

 

“Why are you getting on my nerves now?” He wants to know. “I’m going to have breakfast as slowly as I want to.” A lot more quiet, practically just to himself, he mutters, “Not like I have anything to do today.” 

 

“Aww, are the other two dummybears not going to come out and play today?” Tara asks mockingly, talking about Theo’s best (because only) friends Scott and Stiles, who indeed won’t have any time for him all day. 

 

“They’re not dumb!” Theo feels compelled to argue, although sometimes he wishes Scott would catch on on subtleties a little more quickly and Stiles would display his above-average intelligence with a not so embarrassingly below-average maturity level. What can he do though? They’re not his friends because they’re perfect, after all. 

 

“Whatever,” Tara brushes him off. “You guys don’t have any plans?” 

 

Theo huffs. Why does she have to keep asking? He clearly doesn’t want to talk about it. No, they don’t have any plans, and no, Theo won’t be leaving the house that day, because not even Scott and Stiles have time for him, and he knows nothing to do with himself all on his own. The topic annoys him. It’s not that he’s jealous or anything. Certainly not because his two best friends spend the day at an away game with the lacrosse team they recently joined while Theo stays home, cursing the useless crippled thing beating in his chest because it keeps ruining things for him. 

 

It’s not that, because seriously, if Theo planned to be mad about them excluding him from a sport, then it would be a cool sport, like football, and certainly not something ridiculous you need a stick for. He doesn’t want to be a part of it, really. He doesn’t want to run and he doesn’t want to sweat, he sure as hell isn’t a fan of being tackled to the ground by some other kid with anger issues. Theo doesn’t want that, he just wants to be able to have it. He wants to not have it because it’s his choice that he’s too good for it, and not because his own heart is a damn traitor. 

 

“I take that as a no,” Tara interrupts her little tall brother’s thoughts, flicking her endlessly long her back over her shoulder. 

 

Theo says nothing, but no answer is an answer just as well. 

 

“Awesome,” she beams at him, “you can come with me then!” 

 

For Theo’s liking, she sounds entirely too excited about it. Something is most definitely off. “Why? Where? Do I have to? I was gonna play a video game.” 

 

“Oh really?” Tara asks sweetly. “Which one of the twenty you already played yesterday?”

 

How dare she call him out like this. That damn beast. 

 

“I’m sure you don’t want me to accompany you,” Theo says, because he can suddenly see himself living his worst nightmare and carrying a gazillion shopping bags, wishing their weight had killed him when Tara finally calls him into the fitting booth to help her with something. God, what if she wants to buy something gross, like a bra? Theo shakes his head in an attempt to get the mental images out of it. “I’ll only annoy you to death. I think we can agree that we don’t want-” 

 

“You’re coming with me,” Tara interrupts him sternly. “Period. No further discussion.” 

 

“Moooooooom!” Theo calls through the house, hoping his mother will allow him to stay home. 

 

“Don’t bother,” Tara says with a smile that turns her face into a devilish mask in Theo’s fearful eyes. “I already told them I’d take you with me today.” 

 

“Whyyyyyyyyyyyyy?” Theo whines as he gets up and puts his bowl full of milk in the sink. “I thought we’d gotten rid of torture somewhere along the last century.” 

 

“First of all, you need to get your facts right,” Tara scolds him as she leads out of the kitchen and slips into her shoes, “and second of all, you’re gonna thank me later.” 

 

Theo very much doubts it. 

 

*

 

“Where are we going?” Theo demands to know as they both fasten their seatbelts in the truck that Tara got for her sixteenth birthday just recently. It’s huge and blue and pretty much exactly what Theo would love to drive if only he was old enough. 

 

“I’m not telling you,” his big sister says, shaking her head, sporting a mysterious smile. 

 

“Seriously? You’re the worst.” 

 

“You too.” 

 

“That’s not even… that’s not even possible, Tara. The worst is ultimate. You can’t just say ‘You too.’” 

 

“I just did though.” 

 

“Because you’re the worst.” 

 

*

 

“This song is stupid,” Theo says, interrupting Tara’s singing along to it and changing the station. 

 

“Your face is stupid,” she growls in loving response. 

 

“Well, your face is hiding beneath a clown, so you’re not one to talk.” 

 

“You’ll never get a girlfriend, Teddy Bear.” 

 

“Excellent,” Theo pouts. “I don’t think I ever want one.” 

 

*

 

“I need to pee,” Theo complains after less than an hour. 

 

“Are you kidding me?” Tara asks. 

 

“Do you think if I were, my best try would be telling you I need to pee?” 

 

“Not sure,” Tara shrugs, “it’s not like you have any actual sense of humor.” 

 

“Well, I mean, if you don’t want to stop… It’s  _ your _ nice new car after all,” Theo replies casually. 

 

“Theo, you pig!” Tara shrieks. “Alright, alright. We can stop for two minutes, okay? Jesus, I wasn’t aware I was travelling with a fucking baby! Do you need me to change your diaper, too?” 

 

“Yeah, and you can kiss my ass while you’re at it.”

 

*

 

“Will you just fucking tell me where we’re going?” Theo moans a while later. He doesn't like sitting on his butt for so long. Well, at least not when his butt is not in his own bed and in front of the tv. 

 

“How many times are you going to ask me?” 

 

“Until I’ve annoyed you to death,” Theo promises. 

 

“And then? You can’t even drive a car, Theo. You’d be lost without me.” 

 

“Ha! You wish.” 

 

He absolutely doesn’t know how to drive a car, but Tara can’t be sure he didn’t somehow learn it, can she? She probably is, but fuck it. 

 

*

 

“If you change the station one more time, I swear to god, I’ll buckle you to the roof instead and you can enjoy the airflow,” Tara grumbles through gritted teeth. 

 

“How about you get yourself a bit of a decent taste in music so we won’t have the problem anymore?” Theo counters. She can’t seriously be blaming him when all she does is tempt his ears to start bleeding at any second. 

 

“My car, Theo. My rules.” 

 

“Your rules are dumb.” 

 

“ _ You’re  _ dumb.” 

 

“Wasn’t me who insisted on tagging along.” 

 

“I’m starting to regret it,” Tara murmurs. 

 

“Awesome, can we go home?” Theo asks.

 

“No, we’re almost there.” 

 

*

 

“I still don’t get it,” Theo states as Tara maneuvers the truck inside the center of a small town. It looks just like Beacon Hills, kind of, except a few hundred miles or so away. Just another random town in northern California. 

 

“Spoken like a true dummybear,” Tara mocks.

 

*

 

It doesn’t click right away. Theo isn’t actually stupid, he just wasn’t expecting any of it at all. Mostly because he assumed he was accompanying Tara as some sort of hellish punishment, and not for his own amusement. Literally never would he have thought that she’d be doing him a favor. 

 

*

 

“Funny,” Theo comments, “Beacon Hills’ lacrosse team is also here. I can see their bus.” 

 

Tara doesn’t answer. 

 

“What a coincidence!” Theo babbles on. “You think we’ll see Scott and Stiles? Maybe they’re getting ready to play right at this moment?” 

 

Tara presses her lips together as she parks the truck, but she can’t hide the smile that wants to break out across her whole face. 

 

“Tara? Oh. Oh! Are we? Ohhhhhhh!” 

 

“Yeah, Teddy,” Tara beams at him. 

 

“You took me all the way here to watch Scott and Stiles lose at lacrosse?” Theo asks. 

 

“Who says they’re going to lose?” She laughs. 

 

“Oh, wow. So you clearly haven’t watched them play before.”

 

“No,” Tara shakes her head with a fond smile, “but now I will. And you will too.” 

 

Theo wants to say something. Something like a thank you, maybe, because what his sister is doing for him is kind of a really big and really nice thing, but then again, that’s not really the code for their conversations, so he keeps it in, getting distracted when a handful of kids stream onto the playing field that lies next to the parking lot. 

 

“Oh, I think I can see them!” Theo says with excitement, unbuckling his seatbelt and pushing the door open. Then he stops in his movement and turns back around, catching his sister’s soft, dark green eyes, asking a silent question. The stupid heart in his chest might not be doing its job properly at all times, but in that moment, it runs the fastest it can, and Theo feels a little bit like he can fly. 

 

Tara nods just lightly, telling him yes. Yes, he can go. Yes, she knows how much he loves her in that moment. Yes, she’s the best worst sister a boy can have. 

 

*

 

“Hey Tara, can Scott and Stiles drive home with us after the game?” Theo asks his sister while his friends are back in the locker room after their game. 

 

“Sure,” she agrees, and this time, he allows her to mess his hair up a little. She’s earned this one hair ruffle. Just this one. 

 

“Awesome. We could celebrate with some ice cream. What do you think?” 

 

“Celebrate what?” She laughs. “They lost!” 

 

“Of course they lost,” Theo replies, “I told you they would.” 

 

“Fair.” 

 

“So, ice cream then?” 

 

“I don’t know. Isn’t ice cream for winners? And anyway, aren’t you hungry for some real food? Like…. burgers?” 

 

Seems like she really wants him to tell her how much he loves her that day. 

 

Almost. 

 

She almost has him there. 

 

“You’re the worst,” Theo says instead, rolling his eyes at her, but it’s the same in the language only the two of them share. 


End file.
